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Post by sph on Feb 3, 2024 3:37:50 GMT
I think a lot of older people just don't know when their phone is on silent or not.
As a millennial I can assure you my phone has been on silent since 2012. If it made a single sound in public ever I would die.
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Post by Rory on Feb 3, 2024 7:18:15 GMT
I would love to grab their phones and shove them right up their ar*es! Drives me nuts. Mobiles have been on the scene for years and years now. No excuses. Turn them off! That's a bit harsh... I'd settle for shoving down their throat! Depends how long they let them ring for!
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Post by mrbarnaby on Feb 3, 2024 8:36:46 GMT
I think a lot of older people just don't know when their phone is on silent or not. As a millennial I can assure you my phone has been on silent since 2012. If it made a single sound in public ever I would die. I so identify with this!
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Post by n1david on Feb 3, 2024 9:44:36 GMT
I think a lot of older people just don't know when their phone is on silent or not. As a millennial I can assure you my phone has been on silent since 2012. If it made a single sound in public ever I would die. As a 50-something my phone, and smartwatch are always on silent and my watch is always in theatre mode before the show starts. And what's more I don't make assumptions about people based on their age.
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Post by sph on Feb 3, 2024 11:00:28 GMT
I think a lot of older people just don't know when their phone is on silent or not. As a millennial I can assure you my phone has been on silent since 2012. If it made a single sound in public ever I would die. As a 50-something my phone, and smartwatch are always on silent and my watch is always in theatre mode before the show starts. And what's more I don't make assumptions about people based on their age. Well I do, every now and then
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Post by cavocado on Feb 3, 2024 11:08:53 GMT
This is pretty major. Beautiful performances from the very large cast, and forget being concerned about the running time - it zooms by. While I have questions as to the timeline of the events in the play ( and the characters do as well) it allows all of us something to debate after the show. Jez Butterworth's writing is full humanity , wit and at times poetry that whatever vaguries exist don't really matter . Sam Mendes's fluid and detailed staging is a joy to behold. While it lacks the punch of The Ferryman, it makes up for it in scenes and climaxes of extraordinary quiet power. I cannot wait to see it again. 'Extraordinary quiet power' is exactly the right phrase for the way this dissects sibling relationships, the long-term impact of childhood trauma, and the various disappointments of adulthood. No weak links among the actors. I also didn't notice the length, despite sitting in the cramped balcony, because it was so engrossing, entertaining and often very funny. It has a bit of a 70s sit-com feel, but with 1000x more nuance and depth. BurlyBeaR could we please have a poll for this? Thanks.
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Post by BurlyBeaR on Feb 3, 2024 11:26:52 GMT
Poll added.
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Post by Steve on Feb 4, 2024 0:20:30 GMT
Saw this tonight and LOVED it! As others have stated, this is less visceral than some of Butterworth's other plays (eg Mojo, The Ferryman), and more of a slow burn, but it is completely engrossing from first to last, and it's themes and ideas linger. Some spoilers follow. . . So the set-up is that in 1976, Jill's mum, Veronica, is dying, and Jill (a tightly wound, introspective yet unfiltered, utterly truthful, completely winning Helena Wilson) invites her 3 sisters to come and say their last goodbyes. 2 of them, Ruby (a blunt yet affable Ophelia Lovibond) and Gloria (a hurricane of discontent played by an explosive Leanne Best) show up right away, but where's that last sister, Joan? As in Brian Friel's "Dancing at Lughnasa," this is a kind of memory play about the sisters, about how the past shapes the present. In the past, at a time when James Dean was alive and fanciable (so 1955 or a bit earlier), when Joan was very much part of the gang, their Mum, played by Laura Donnelly as a fast-talking, fast-thinking, uber-ambitious, ultra-focused, prim, precise, Miss Jean Brody of a stage mother, wants to make them all singing stars. . . In addition to comparing this to the poetic wistful remembrance of "Dancing at Lughnasa," one can also see in Veronica something of a more contained, more business-like, Mama Rose, from Gypsy, as suggested above lol, her dreams as equally endlessly boundless, but also, in the consideration of how each member of a singing group has their own individual story, one can also see traces of Amazon's superb "Daisy and the Six" TV show. Like in Butterworth's poetic "Jerusalem," filled with speeches that enlarge the scope and resonances of the storytelling, and unlike the National's "Till the Stars Come down," which is more viscerally and immediately eventful, yet ultimately more prosaic than poetic, this play has several beautiful speeches that expand the events of the story into something more mythic and universal: speaking to the Rashomon like nature of the stories of our lives, how they intertwine, and how music unites it all. Combining deliberate slow-burning intricately characterised storytelling, exquisitely acted (Laura Donnelly is astoundingly multifaceted; Leanne Best is cuttingly caustic, especially in her treatment of her doormat husband, Shaun Dooley's upbeat Bill, who she contemptuously snarls had better not do his "funny accents" lol!; Helena Wilson sucks you deep into the emotions of the story with her thoughtful, loveable, open, honest, anchoring Jill; Ophelia Lovibond and her youthful counterpart, Sophia Ally, so symbiotically and effectively depict the slow, settling, snuffing of some of the candles of a character who would be the life of a party), and poetically meaningful, I'd rate this 5 stars despite it being a slower burn than Jerusalem, The Ferryman or Mojo.
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Post by stevemar on Feb 4, 2024 2:32:38 GMT
Sorry to be “that” person, what time does the show finish please with the 7pm start time? I note 3hr 10 seems to be the running time? Just trying to work out how to run for a 2241 train..
And is the view from row B neck ache inducing?
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Post by mkb on Feb 4, 2024 3:52:30 GMT
Sorry to be “that” person, what time does the show finish please with the 7pm start time? I note 3hr 10 seems to be the running time? Just trying to work out how to run for a 2241 train.. And is the view from row B neck ache inducing? Friday night ended at 22:05.
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Post by wannabedirector on Feb 4, 2024 4:39:00 GMT
While this isn't as frenetic as Jerusalem, or as nail-bitingly tense as The Ferryman, it's just as devastating as both. Lots of aspects deserve praise but most of all it's just an excellent piece of writing.
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Post by lou105 on Feb 4, 2024 6:55:53 GMT
And is the view from row B neck ache inducing? I found Row B to be fine, better than expected. A has been removed so there's a gap giving you a nice angle to look across to the stage, not directly up. I think I was lucky with seat 5- I suspect the very edges lose bits and the centre might have more issues with furniture in the way.
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Post by stevemar on Feb 4, 2024 9:56:28 GMT
Thanks mkb and lou105 - very helpful, and good news on both fronts!
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Post by matildaswinton on Feb 4, 2024 10:53:50 GMT
Was there Saturday afternoon. This one really sticks with you, even if the gut punch doesn’t feel so strong in the moment. Really beautiful. Feels like a treat to watch. Might try to return if it’s possible.
Rant alert. Some of the crowd, my my… please don’t hum along to prove you know the music, guys. And can we ban suck-top water bottles, please? Pulled me out every time I’d hear the crunch of plastic regaining its form. Sorry if the two men on the right side of row A dress circle are on this board. But do better. Also, so many people made cringey statements about the pause. “Oh, well, it seems this is the pause, eh?? Oh what a pause, teehee…”. I was so into the piece, and then had to hear that dumb chatter. Some people…. Surprised me because it was such a tense moment.
Anyway, I suspect this will go to New York eventually, and it’d be great to see who goes with it.
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Post by mrnutz on Feb 4, 2024 11:23:37 GMT
I was also in for the Saturday matinee and thought this was really excellent.
Wonderfully written, the perfect balance of light and dark, comedy and emotion. Not a weak link in the cast and a richly detailed set.
Hugely enjoyed it, despite the chap in the row behind who snored his way through most of the third act. £100 well spent, eh?
5/5
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Post by theatreliker on Feb 4, 2024 11:35:43 GMT
I agree, I thought this was excellent especially for a preview. A layered play where the issues and themes come through character and story. The Ferryman and Hills of California, for me, are departures from his earlier work. But still identifiably Butterworth's sense of humour.
Great set, performances and direction.
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Post by alessia on Feb 4, 2024 12:20:31 GMT
I was also in for the Saturday matinee and thought this was really excellent. Wonderfully written, the perfect balance of light and dark, comedy and emotion. Not a weak link in the cast and a richly detailed set. Hugely enjoyed it, despite the chap in the row behind who snored his way through most of the third act. £100 well spent, eh? 5/5 I am always baffled by people who do this - especially for the price they spent! I recall a woman next to me during the Mad House play and she slept all the way through, only waking up for the interval and at the end and clapped like she’d seen it 🤣
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Post by youngoffender on Feb 4, 2024 14:00:19 GMT
I too was at the Saturday matinee, and felt lucky to catch it at preview prices before they reach opera level next week. I won't stray from the consensus that is building here - one of the best things I have seen for a long time, with everyone involved bringing their A game. I expect the music clearances cost a fortune, and if the uniformly note-perfect cast are seeing a fair cut of the gross, then this is fair value. You can see why Sonia Friedman was confident to give it such a long initial run on the basis of the script alone.
Interesting interview with Jez Butterworth in the Sunday Times today. He's very candid about the reason this went straight to the West End, rather than having an initial run at the Royal Court: "I spent ten years going to see everything that was on there after Jerusalem, but I don't really feel a connection any more." Oof.
If you can, go into this knowing as little as possible about it. Let the bravura storytelling work its magic on you.
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Post by Rory on Feb 4, 2024 14:36:45 GMT
Interesting interview with Jez Butterworth in the Sunday Times today. He's very candid about the reason this went straight to the West End, rather than having an initial run at the Royal Court: "I spent ten years going to see everything that was on there after Jerusalem, but I don't really feel a connection any more." Oof.
I can see his point. It has been a long time since the Court has felt essential.
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Post by iwant2beatthetheatre on Feb 4, 2024 14:46:58 GMT
After seeing all the positive comments on here I've booked a ticket 😂. £62 for second row at the side, I didn't think that was too bad.
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Post by greenandbrownandblue on Feb 4, 2024 14:47:39 GMT
Saw this yesterday afternoon. Won't say much other than the acting is superb and the writing is extremely good. Hardly a word out of place. It builds beautifully.
I wasn't enamoured with The Ferryman, but I loved Jerusalem and especially The River. And the revival of Mojo I saw at this venue ten or so years ago was very good too.
One things from yesterday's matinee: I was front row (good view, just miss feet but can't go wrong for £40). However outside was a helicopter monitoring the protest march going down Haymarket. I could hear it clearly for the entirety of the first act (presumably the sound insulation in the fly tower isn't great), and it took me a bit of time to tune it out.
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Post by harry on Feb 4, 2024 14:48:06 GMT
Interesting interview with Jez Butterworth in the Sunday Times today. He's very candid about the reason this went straight to the West End, rather than having an initial run at the Royal Court: "I spent ten years going to see everything that was on there after Jerusalem, but I don't really feel a connection any more." Oof.
I’m hardly surprised. The RC programming in recent years has been woeful. And clearly it’s not just Jez who feels this given their nearly non-existent box office takings and terrible current financial position as recently reported. The word on the grapevine is that the new AD has recently made the whole literary department redundant which seems an odd move for a theatre whose mission statement is all about new writing. But maybe he has some clever plan to woo back good writers like Jez… Specifically on this play and its journey, I think Sonia Friedman used The Ferryman as a test for audience appetite for a new Jez Butterworth play after Jerusalem regardless of casting. When Jerusalem was previewing at the Royal Court they literally couldn’t give tickets away - a 3+ hr show about a lout in a caravan with an actor whose name meant nothing at the time to Joe Public. Even after its huge West End (x2) and Broadway success they couldn’t know if it was Mark Rylance who had become a star, and Jez Butterworth had remained relatively more niche. Of course it turned out Jerusalem had indeed made a star of Jez too and The Ferryman became the fastest ever selling show at the Royal Court with the transfer announced almost immediately. So this time around they knew Jez was enough (Sam Mendes’ name doesn’t hurt either!) to launch it without a run at a subsidised theatre to build the appetite and get the reviews first.
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Post by harry on Feb 4, 2024 14:54:38 GMT
P.S. I’m aware the above skips over The River but they did that thing where you could only buy day seats and the theatre only held about 100 people, and then Broadway had Hugh Jackman in it so it didn’t tell anyone much about the size of the appetite for Jez himself.
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Post by alexandra on Feb 4, 2024 15:07:17 GMT
I think a lot of older people just don't know when their phone is on silent or not. As a millennial I can assure you my phone has been on silent since 2012. If it made a single sound in public ever I would die. Oh do f*** off. Sorry, sph . I don’t mean it. But really.
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Post by sophie92 on Feb 4, 2024 18:20:19 GMT
Another one who was at the matinee yesterday (seems it was something of an unofficial TheatreBoard takeover!). 5 stars from me. I thought it was uniformly excellent - the play itself, the design, the performances - and I found it deeply moving. I don’t have much more to add that hasn’t already been said.
Also to note, I was on an aisle of the Dress Circle so could make a very quick getaway, but I’d made it to Trafalgar Square by 17:00 and Charing Cross by 17:04 (from a 14:00 start time), so it came in at a little under 3 hours.
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Post by theatreliker on Feb 4, 2024 19:52:17 GMT
Don't suppose someone could gift the Times article could they please?
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Post by theatregoer22 on Feb 4, 2024 20:17:49 GMT
I've seen a few people on here asking if their are rush tickets for this and the answer, according to Theatre Monkey, is not at the moment, but that may change after previews.
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Post by Rory on Feb 4, 2024 20:30:04 GMT
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Post by andrew on Feb 4, 2024 20:56:53 GMT
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Post by meister on Feb 5, 2024 16:14:28 GMT
When are the press in for this?
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